Receiving and positioning apparatus



Sept. 27, 1960 R, M. INGHAM, JR 2,953,821

RECEIVING AND POSITIONING APPARATUS I 1 Filed Dec. 1, 1955 uvmvroxROBERT M. INGHAM,JR.

'Wlzfifi XML ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,953,821 RECEIVING ANDPOSITIONING APPARATUS Robert M. Ingham, Jr., Spartanburg, S.C., assignort0 Deering Millikan Research Corporation, Pendleton, S.C., a corporationof Delaware Filed Dec. 1, 1955, SenNo. 550,323 11 Claims. (Cl. 19-105)This invention relates to apparatus for handling rolls of textilematerial, and particularly to apparatus for receiving and positioningrolls of textile materials such as lap, etc.

In the handling and positioning of rolls of textile material such aslap, cloth, yarn, etc., it is important that the material on the rollsremain undamaged as much as possible during the various operations.Particularly is this true in the case of rolls of lap material. However,it is often-desirable to convey such rolls of material from oneposition, such as a supply source for rolls, to another position, suchas the supply cradle of a card frame or the like. It is also oftendesirable to convey such rolls by a conveyor arrangement with the rollsbeing dropped as by action of an automatic trip release mechanism froman overhead conveyor to supply cradle of any machine needing supply rollreplenishment. However, it will be apparent that such a vertical drop ofthe rolls (which drop may be of the order of several feet) in such anoverhead supply system may easily result in considerable damage to therolls upon impact with the roll receiver unless great care is employedin the roll releasing and receiving operation, or unless the arrangementis such as to eliminate or materially reduce the danger of damageinherent in a free fall of a heavy roll of textile or the like material.

It is an important feature of this invention that a roll receiver isprovided which has particular utility in an overhead supply system fortextile rolls and the like, in that a system employing an arrangement inaccordance with the invention results in a great reduction of thepossibility of damage to rolls when such are dropped at a receivingstation.

Another feature of the invention'lies in the provision of a rollreceiving and positioning apparatus wherein the roll of material may befirst received over a relatively wide lateral area and is then loweredto a predetermined substantially precision position for use, such beingparticularly useful in combination with carding machines and othertextile machines employing supply rolls from which material is unwound.

Briefly, in one physical embodiment thereof the invention takes the formof a releasably secured sheet of web material, such as canvas, or othersuitable flexible sheet material releasably supported along two spacedapart substantially parallel lines, the sheet being secured at one endto a roller, there being a pair of coalignecl flared throat guidesextending below and beyond either edge of the sheet for guiding theextending shaft of a roll into desired unwinding position. A rollreceiving and positioning apparatus according to this invention mayFigure 1 illustrates in perspective a preferred physical:

embodiment according to the invention, showing one roll in positionimmediately after having been dropped, and another roll (in phantom) inan intermediate lowered position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a roll of material at anintermediate position while being lowered.

Referring in detail to the figures of the drawing, a preferred rollreceiving and positioning apparatus, which is particularly adapted toreceive rolls of lap at a carding frame, has a pair of upstanding endstandards 12 and 14 mounted on the side frame members 13 and 15 adjacentthe feeding end of a card frame 10, the lap roll side of which frame ispartially shown in schematic form. Standards 12 and 14 each have-avertical slot 16 formed therein which connects with a flared or V-shaped throat 18 defined by two arms 20 and 22; the standards being eachmounted on its respective side frame 13 and 15 whereby the slots 16 aredisposed above the journaled ends of conventional fluted .oradle roller17 of the card frame.

In the illustrated embodiment a desired structural elasticity as well asa considerable economy of material and the necessary structural strengthhave been effected by forming the framework and the entire peripheralsurface of the arms 20 and 22, including throats .18 and slots 16defined therebetween, of flat metal stock. The lower body portions 19and 21 of the standards 12 and 14 are each preferably formed of sheetmaterial, the flat stock being secured thereto as by welding around thelateral periphery of the sheet material to give the necessary structuralstrength and rigidity to the lower portion of the standards. f

Extending between and rotatably supported by the upper ends of arms 22,as in journal bearing blocks 23, there is provided a roll 24 of flexiblesoft, yet strong, web or other suitable sheet material 26, such ascanvas. The opposite arms 20 have a fixed shaft 28 extendingtherebetween and suitably secured near the upper ends thereof as bywelding directly to the arms at their apex, or bywelding or facilely bearranged beneath an overhead conveyor or a l taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings,

wherein:

otherwise securing to end plates 29, which in turn may be welded orotherwise secured to and thus form a part of arms 20 as shown. The shaft28 has a plurality of spaced apart pins 30 suitably secured or formedthereon, which serve to removably attach the end of canvas 26 to theshaft 28, as through the medium of metal or other reinforced eyelets 27spaced along the end of canvas 26, whereby the canvas may be removablymounted across the upper span of throat 18.

The extended canvas 26 forms a bed which serves to receive with somedegrees of resilience a lap roll dropped thereon from above, withsubstantially no injury to the lap. Additionally, with the illustratedopen structural arrangement, arms 2% and 22 being elastic o'r resilientalso serve to absorb the shock resulting from the drop of the lap roll,which may be quite heavy, as of the order of lbs. In order to preventfurther unwinding rotation of the roll 24 after the end of the canvas 26is attached to pins 30, a ratchet wheel 31 and pivoted mounted incomplementary releas- 7 dog or pawl 33 are ably holding relation, theratchet wheel being mounted on hand wheel 32, which in turn is securedonto roll shaft 25, with the pawl or dog 33being pivotally mount ed onthe journal block 23 of arm 22. While theme? ferred means forselectively holding the roll 24 against undesired rotation takes theform of a'ratchet and, pawl arrangement, such as shown, it willbeapparent that other hold-release arrangements might be utilized,

as a torsion spring and ratchet similar to the typeem Patented Sept, 27,1560 ployed in window shade rollers, or a counterweight, cable and drumarrangement of conventional construction. Neither of these lattermentioned arrangements, however, afford the utility, positive contro1and simplicity obtained with the preferred ratchet and pawl arrangementsuch as shown in the illustrative example of the invention.

After the lap roll 36 has dropped onto the bed formed by canvas websheet 26, the operator may at a convenient later time come by the cardframe and release the holding dog 33 from the ratchet and permit thecanvas 26 to be unwound from roll 24, with unwinding being controlled asby the use of hand wheel 32 suitably secured onto one end of roll shaftand preferably having a handle 34 mounted thereon. Unwinding of canvas26 from roll 24- thus results in lowering of lap roll 36 betweenstandards 12 and 14, with its lap pins 38 being thus lowered within thethroat 18 until the extending lap pins 38 come to rest on a pair of lugs40, one being formed or suitably secured, as by welding at the lower endof the throat 18 on the inner or throat surface side of each of arms 22.

In order to assure the pins 38 riding the inner rail or surface of arms22 and into engagement with lugs 49, the throat 18 and slot 16 areformed such that the slot 16 is to one side (toward arm 20) of thecenter of the upper span of throat 18 (i.e. the canvas bed width acrossthe throat). This is accomplished by making the inner rail or throatsurface 23 less steeply inclined than the corresponding throat surface21 of arms 20, and as a result, since the lap roll tends to remain inthe center of the canvas bed, it will first engage arms 22 on beinglowered and will then ride down the inner throat surfaces 23 of thesearms and into engagement with lug 40, where it comes to rest.

After lowering the lap to the position where its pins 38 are supportedby lugs 46, the canvas 2-6 is further unrolled from roll 24 a smalladditional amount and its end is then freed from pins 30, whereupon thecanvas may be rewound onto roller 24 and repositioned above the loweredroll 36 and across throat 18 for reception of the next lap roll. Thelowered roll 36 is not in its final operative position when riding onlugs 40, but may readily and easily be placed in operative position inslots 16 merely by pushing it laterally toward arm 29, whereupon thepins 38 then ride ofi the lugs and into the slot 16, in which positionthe peripheral surface of the lap roll 36 rests upon the fluted cradleroller 17 of the card frame 10. The normal operation of unwinding of thelap roll 36 and feeding of the lap into the carding frame may then beaccomplished, with the lap progressing from the lap roll to the feedroll 46 and thence to the lickerin 43 in conventional or other desiredmanner.

It will be apparent from a reading of the foregoing description of oneillustrative embodiment of the invention that many modifications andother structurally different embodiments thereof might be made Withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the invention. It is,

therefore, to be understood that the invention is not to be limited bythe illustrative embodiment, but only by the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for receiving rolls of textile material, comprising firstsupport means, said support means having a roller rotatably mountedthereon, flexible sheet material secured along one end to said roller,second support means, securing means on said second support means andspaced apart from said roller in a direction transverse to the axis ofsaid roller and releasably securing the opposite end of said flexiblesheet material to said second support means along a line spaced fromsaid roller, and means for rotating said roller, a pair of guides eachhaving a V-shaped tapered throat with an apex at its lower end, one ofsaid guides being disposed beyond each side of said sheet for guiding anextending shaft of a roll of material supported by said sheet toward theapex of said throat, the apex of said throats lying beneath the planeformed by said sheet when held in extended relation between said rollerand said second support means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guides each have asubstantially vertically extending slot formed beneath and connectingwith the apex of its V-shaped throat.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein a detent is disposed on andnear the apex end of each of said V- shaped guides for supporting theopposite ends of a lap roll pin or the like.

4. Apparatus for positioning and unwinding textile material on rolls,comprising a pair of spaced apart standards each having upwardly opencosligned Y-shaped flare-throated guidcways formed therein, saidguideways effectively dividing said standards each into two upwardlyextending arms, a roller rotatably mounted on and between the upper endsof corresponding arms of said standards, said roller having securedthereto one end of a length of flexible sheet material, a transversemember extending between and secured to the upper ends of the other ofsaid arms of each of said standards, means for releasably attaching thefree end of said sheet material to said transverse member, the totallength of said sheet material being at least as great as the length ofthe V- shaped throat portions of said throated guideways, a cradlesupport roller rotatably mounted near the lower end of said slots, oneof said arms of each of said standards having disposed thereon near theapex of the flared throats of said guideways a lug detent.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein releasable pawl and ratchetmeans are disposed adjacent one end of said roller and mounted on saidroller and one of said arms, means disposed on said roller for rotationthereof to. wind and unwind said sheet material, said means forreleasably attaching said free end of said sheet material to saidtransverse member comprises a plurality of spaced apart pins on saidmember, said sheet material having corresponding eyelets formed in saidfree end thereof.

6. Apparatus for receiving and positioning rolls of material, comprisinga pair of spaced apart support means each having a pair of first andsecond upwardly extending arms spaced apart at their upper ends, thecorresponding arms of each of said support means being in substantialco-alignment, a roller rotatably supported by and between said firstarms, a sheet of flexible material secured to said roller, means forreleasably securing said roller against unwinding rotation, and meansextending between and supported by said second arms in spaced apartrelation from said roller for releasably securing an unwound end of saidsheet, one of said secured ends being mounted for substantial lateralresilient shock-absorbing movement relative to the lower end of itsrespective supporting arms.

7. Apparatus for receiving and positioning rolls of material, comprisinga pair of spaced apart support means each having a pair of first andsecond upwardly extending arms spaced apart at their upper ends, thecorresponding arms of each of said support means being in substantialco-alignment, a roller rotatably supported by and between said firstarms, a sheet of flexible material secured to said roller, means forreleasably securing said roller against unwinding rotation, and meansextending between and supported by said second arms in spaced apartrelation from said roller for releasably securing an unwound end of saidsheet, said releasably secured unwound end of said sheet being laterallyresiliently movably mounted for substantial lateral resilientshock-absorbing movement relative to the lower end of its respectivesupporting arms.

8. Apparatus for receiving fragile rolls of textile material comprisingfirst support means, said support means having a roller rotatablymounted thereon, a sheet of flexible material extending alongsubstantially the entire length of a fragile roll received and supportedthereby and being secured along one end to said roller, second supportmeans, securing means on said second support means and spaced apart fromsaid roller in a direction transverse to the axis of said roller forreleasably securing the opposite end of said sheet to the other of saidsupports along a line spaced from said roller, a pair of V- shapedtapered throat guides disposed beyond each side of said sheet forguiding an extended shaft of a roll of material supported by said sheettoward the apex of said throats, the apex of said throats lying beneaththe plane formed by said sheet when held in extended relation betweensaid roller and said second support means, said guides each having asubstantially vertically extending slot formed beneath and connectingwith the apex of its V-shaped throat, a detent disposed near the apexend of each of said V-shaped guides, a corresponding one of the guidesurfaces of each of said throats being inclined at a smaller angle tothe horizontal than the other guide surface of said throats, saiddetents being disposed one on each of said corresponding guide surfaces.

9. Apparatus for receiving soft, fragile, flangeless rolls of textilematerial comprising first support means, said support means having aroller rotatably mounted thereon, a sheet of flexible material extendingalong the entire length of a roll received and supported thereby andbeing secured along one end to said roller, second support means,securing means on said second support means and spaced apart from saidroller in a direction transverse to the axis of said roller forreleasably securing the opposite end of said sheet to the other of saidsupports along a line spaced from said roller, means for rotating saidroller, a pair of tapered throat guides disposed beyond each side ofsaid sheet for guiding an extended portable support member for a roll ofmaterial supported by said sheet toward the apex of said throat, acorresponding one of the guide surfaces of each of said throats beinginclined at a smaller angle to the horizontal than the other guidesurface of said throats.

10. In a textile machine operating upon textile material suppliedthereto from a roll, in combination, a supply roll cradle roller andsupply roll intermediate receiving and support means disposed above saidcradle roller, said receiving and support means comprising a rollerrotatably disposed above said cradle roller and spaced therefrom, asheet of flexible material secured to said receiving and support rollerbeing longer along the length of said roller than the length of rollsreceived and supported thereby, means spaced from said roller and saidcradle roller means for releasably securing the free end of said sheetin spaced apart relation from said roller, and means for releasablyholding said roller against unwinding rotation, a pair of V-shaped guidemembers disposed beyond each lateral edge of said sheet, the apex of theguide surfaces of each of said guide members being disposed insubstantially vertical alignment with said cradle roller, said guidemembers each having a detent disposed near the apex of its V-shapedguide surface.

11. Apparatus for receiving and positioning rolls of material comprisinga pair of spaced apart standards each having a first and second upwardlyextending arm spaced apart at their upper ends, the corresponding armsof said standards being in substantial coalignment, a roller rotatablysupported by and between said first arms, a sheet of flexible materialextending along substantially the entire length of a fragile rollreceived and supported thereby and being secured to said roller, meansfor releasably securing said roller against unwinding rotation, andmeans extending between and supported by said second arms in spacedapart relation from said roller for releasably securing an unwound endof said sheet, said arms defining an upwardly flared throat, at leastone arm of each of said pairs of arms comprising two laterally spacedapart rod sections extending over an intermediate portion of its length,whereby each of said one arrns has an inherent resiliency providing ashock-absorbing reaction.

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